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Troubled bridge over water in Fenelon Falls

This Just In: A government-appointed official reported that there was “a great deal of dissatisfaction being expressed at Fenelon Falls” over progress on the bridge.

That may sound current, but it’s actually a report from 1887. And that’s not a typo: 18-87. It seems that figuring the best way (and the number of ways) over the Fenelon River is just part of the Fenelon DNA, perhaps as integral to a Fenelonite as as our perpetual rivalry with Bobcaygeon.

Contributing Editor Trevor Hutchinson.

The first bridge in Fenelon was constructed in 1842 and replaced by a second in 1867. That was replaced again in 1882 when the Toronto Iron Bridge Company built a wood-floored steel structure for $4,931.85. The dissatisfaction in 1887 was over the swing-bridge, now part of the Rail Trail. Construction of that languished until 1894 as local authorities, the railway company and the federal government argued over the financial arrangement. So while the rest of the area and country was in full-on expansion and growth mode, Fenelon stalled, pending bridge infrastructure issues.

Legend has it that at one point in Leslie Frost’s premiership, Fenelon was offered full funding for a second bridge over the river as part of a proposed bypass. The village, spurred on by opposition of some downtown merchants who feared a bypass would be bad for business, declined. Bobcaygeon however would approve their proposed bypass. The Bobcaygeon bypass not only didn’t kill their village, it helped it to grow to almost twice the size of Fenelon.

Jump ahead another 30 years and in Fenelon Falls we are once again talking about bridges. A corridor study was started in 2015 which confirmed, among other things, that summer traffic in Fenelon sucks is just horrible. And ironically, while a previous generation of Fenelon merchants fought a second crossing, the provincial portion of this corridor study funding came from the ‘Business Retention and Expansion Project.” The existing crossing, according to the Transportation Master Plan, will exceed 100 per cent capacity in 2027.

City Council just approved an environmental study of a proposed second crossing, meaning the village is one step closer. But it’s not just a river that has to be crossed: environmental, planning and funding hurdles will also have to be traversed and all of this will take time. But sometimes taking the time to do it right is worth it. That 1882 Fenelon bridge was hastily constructed 17 inches below the previous one and had to be subsequently raised.

A graduate of the University of Toronto, Trevor Hutchinson is a songwriter, writer and bookkeeper. He serves as Contributing Editor at The Lindsay Advocate. He lives with his fiancee and their five kids in Glenarm, Kawartha Lakes.

1 Comment

My gawd this is just funny. My wife and I still talk about this frequently and compare the Fenelon/Bobcaygeon dynamic to where we live now.

We’re former Sturgeon Point cottage owners (or in strict accuracy my wife was) and about 30 years ago one of the oldest Sturgeon Point cottagers I ever knew told me the story of when the “dumb Fenelon Falls farmers” condemned Fenelon to perpetual road repair, congestion and the smell of exhaust fumes while the Bobcaygeon council saw the writing on the wall and voted for the bypass.

We no longer own a cottage in Sturgeon Point having sold the one my wife’s great grandfather built in 1887. We live on Vancouver Island now and I have to say that no matter how insulting this sounds I have very little faith that the electors of Fenelon Falls are any more blessed with the needed foresight in 2019 than they were in Frost’s era.

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The Lindsay Advocate is an online news magazine for Lindsay, Ontario, Canada, focused on the social and economic wellness of the town. While we cover most aspects of community life, we have a particular interest in poverty reduction.